Making a trip to the craft/hardware store tomorrow and I have my list made. What I wanting to get done is make some roads for my layout and add some hills. Let me know if i'm missing anything or have any suggestions. Craft store: - Elmer's Glue - Plaster of Paris 8 lb. Tub - Plaster Of Paris 4.4 lb dry mix - Hot glue gun - 2mm thick Foamie sheets (for roads) Home Depot: - 1" thick foam sheet - Drywall saw Stuff I still need to get: - Scenic Cement - Asphalt looking paint
I rearranged your list a little Craft store: - Scenic Cement - Get some Mat medium and mix 2 or 3 to 1 water Walmart might be cheaper Why both? - - Plaster of Paris 8 lb. Tub - Plaster Of Paris 4.4 lb dry mix - Hot glue gun - Walmart might be cheaper - 2mm thick Foamie sheets (for roads) Dollar Tree sells knock off Gator Board for .99 Home Depot:- - Elmer's Glue get the 1/2 gallon for like $10 and you won't run out - 1" thick foam sheet - Drywall saw Stuff I still need to get: - Asphalt looking paint - Walmart? ratled
The reason for both types of plaster is its my understanding that the tub is like like drywall spackel, and the dry mix is power that you ad water to which is for strips of news paper over a mountain or whatever.
Here is a good page on matt medium http://www.sceneryexpress.com/prodinfo.asp?number=EX0010 The tub is a dry wall spackle not really a plaster. Charlie Comstock has a good read on using that to make roads http://s145079212.onlinehome.us/rr/howto/roads/index.shtml You may want to check this out too. First item is a 2 part scenery DVD series for $9.99 for the pair if you download instead of them sending a DVD. You can always burn it to DVD yourself http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/advertiser/weekly-specials It will be the best RR dollars you'll spend. And by downloading it yourself there is no waiting for the mailman to delivery ratled
Thanks for the link to the Matte Medium. Here's the plaster I was planning on getting: A.C. Moore - Plaster Of Paris 8 lb. Tub-White They also have Sculptamold: A.C. Moore - Sculptamold Modeling Compound 3 Pounds -White I wasn't planning on using that for roads though. I was going to follow this: Small Rails: How to make HO scale roads
It is used like white glue. It has been reported it other threads that white glue may leave a glossy sheen, Mate Medium in my experience does not. Wal-Mart sells this as well as some of the craft stores, but most of the time WM is cheaper. Gary
Just got back. Picked up some plaster of paris mix, mod podge, and elmer's glue from Wal-Mart, and the 2mm thick foamies from the craft store. The 1" think foam sheets that Home Depot had were too big to fit in my car so not sure what i'm going to do about that and I totally forgot about the paint for my roads. Guess I"ll be going back.
Don't use a spray bottle. You will get mate medium all over everything. See this video for ballasting, the same idea will work for other scenic areas. Also take a look at this thread by Caleb Austin. I use an eye dropper, or a syringe, or a brush. I dilute 1 part to 4 parts water up to 1 part to 8 parts water. I use a brush for both full strength and diluted. I use a mix of 70% alcohol and water (50/50) for a wetting agent as seen in the above mentioned video. Gary
If you cut them into 4X4 sheets will they fit? Putting them back together is not a big deal. If buying more then one sheet mark each 4X4 section so you can easily match up the cut edges. Gary
Here's my first attempt at some scenery. On my layout (which is an older layout started by my dad) I had a pond/lake area. I had an old camping kit so I wanted to make a camp ground area and this was my attempt. I used the foamie sheet and cut it out, glued it to the water area. After that set I went over the edges with plaster to fill in the gaps. Once the plaster set I sanded the rough parts down and cleaned up. I then mixed together water/glue and applied it. I added the earth, grass and sand. After adding the sceneary I used a dropper with the water/glue mixture and went over it. I found some spots the material would run so I would have to go back over it with the material.
You've got a good start. :thumbs_up: Not uncommon. You find that after it drys, you need to touch up some spots. Just wet it with water/glue mix and sprinkle on some more ground cover. On hills I will use full strength or 1/2 strength mate medium or white glue and brush it on in a thin layer and the sprinkle on the ground cover, be ground foam, static grass, real dirt, etc. Even with that there are some touch ups needed. Gary
Thanks Gary. I'll try that method out for hills. It came out better than I expected being my first time and all.
Ask the Home Depot worker to cut the sheet for you so that it will fit in your car. Or tie it on top of your car with a sheet of plywood on top of it. Hey, we can always use another sheet of plywood! Or use my method... buy an old hearse, it will hold 4x8' sheets of anything. Locked up, out of sight, out of the weather. Better than a pickup truck! And, another advantage, no one wants to borrow it on the weekend to haul garbage or move furniture! Your neighbors will hate you, their kids will think you're cool... a real win-win. And with a hearse parked in your driveway, Jehovah's Witnesses and salesmen won't come near your house.
Buying a hearse is a good idea. For the foam heres what I do. Bring a kitchen knife with you, buy the foam. Go out front and put the foam up against corner of building, ours has this square pillars, score with knife. Then slap with palm to snap.
From the second you purchase the sheets, you can do with them as you wish. Take a hobby knife with you to HomeDepot (or even buy one there), and after you pay for the sheets, slice it into sections that WILL fit into your car. ======= There's no reason to pound a square peg into a round hole when you've got a hobby knife handy.
